Rubber-dam clamp



(No Model.)

0. CARPENTER.

RUBBER DAM CLAMP.

No. 371,669. Patented Oct. 18, 1887.

Q/W Wmow E ammo/L fifij UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLIVER CARPENTER, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

RUBBER-DAM CLAMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 371,669, dated October 18, 1887.

Application filed March 14, 1887. Serial No. 230,901. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OLIVER CARPENTER, of Oakland, Alameda county, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Rubber- Dam Clamps; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to operative dentistry, and particularly to the class of clamps which are used for holding rubber dams in place around the tooth.

My invention consists, essentially, in a pad attached to one of the arms of the clampframe, the object of said pad being to bear upon the gum in those cases in which the gum on the other side has receded and the cavity is so low as to make it necessary to tip the clamp at an angle if it be arranged so that the usual sharp end or jaw on the first side bears against the tooth. In the present instance the pad, being soft, enables the clamp to be placed in proper position, thus avoiding any injury to the gum and any tipping or tilting of the clamp-frame.

My invention further consists in the novel adjustable pad hereinafter described.

My invention also consists, in connection with the approximately U-shaped hinged frame carrying thejaws, of aregulating-screw passing through the sides of the frame and a spring around said screw for automatically expandingtheframe; and myinventionfinally consists of an approximately U shaped hinged frame operated by a transverse screw and having the ends of its arms peculiarly constructed for the reception of the jaws and facility in Working, all of which Ishall hereinafter fully describe.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanation of my invention, Figure l is a perspective view showing the pad in connection with a clamp-frame, whichin this case is of that character patented by me December 14, 1886, No. 354,391. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail showing the construction and application of the pad. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the modified ends of the arms of the clamp-frame.

The frame A, which is approximately of a U shape, consists of two parts or sides jointed or hinged together at a. The ends of these sides, which in Fig. l are shown as bent to one side, are adapted to receive the holding parts of the clamp. One of these parts is the jaw B, which consists of a small piece of metal independent of the frame, and secured in any suitable manner, as by means of the dovetailed groove b, which permits the ready application of the jaw and its removal for the substitution of another, this substitution being required by the fact that the free ends of the jaws are made of different shapes to fit the position to which they are applied.

0 is the pad, which is secured to the other end of the frame A. This pad,which consists of any suitable soft materialsuch as felt, &c. is secured upon a back or foundation plate, 0, having a small stem, 0, with a cross-pin, 0 which is pivoted in a socket, 0 on the end of the shank c, which fits in a dovetailed groove, b, in the end of the frame-arm. By this construction it will be seen that the pad may be readily applied to the frame and removed again. By reason of its hinged connection with its shank it is adapted to accommodate itself to the movement of the frame and the position which it is to occupy, so that it fits snugly in place. The object of the pad, as I have before stated, is to permit the proper placing of the clamp in those cases in which the gum has receded on one side of the tooth and the cavity is so far down in the neck of the tooth as to require the jaw holding the rubber dam back to settle itself far down on said neck, thereby requiring the inner jaw to do likewise if the clamp-frame is to be placed straight; but with a sharp jaw on the other side it would be impossible to so place the frame because of the gum. W'ith the pad this maybe done without injury.

I do not wish to be confined to the peculiar pad I have described, nor to its application to the present form of clamp.

My invention consists in the employment 01 a pad on one of the arms of any kind of arubber-dam-clamp frame; but I also consider its application to the present frame as being an advantageous and useful one, and the construction of the pad as being one to meet the necessities of the case by reason of its adj ustability. The clamp frame is contracted by means of a screw, D, passing transversely through the sides of the frame. Around the screw and between the sides of the frame is sidewise, one of them being straight and the other being bent backwardly or outwardly. The straight end is made bulging, and is provided with an aperture, a, in the base of which is formed the groove b for the reception of the jaw. The other end is also grooved for the reception of the jaw on that side or pad, as the case may be,and the arm itself is slotted at a to allow the jaw to passthrough. It will be seen that this clamp-frame is a straight one and may be used to an advantage in certain cases, the aperture being for the purposerof permitting the operator to work through.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A pad secured to one of the arms of a rubber-dam clamp and opposite to the jaw or dam holding device, substantially as herein described.

2. A rubber'dam clamp comprising an eX- pansible and contractible frame, a jaw in the end of one of the arms of the frame for bolding the rubber dam away from the cavity in the tooth, and a pad in the other arm of the frame, substantially as herein described.

3. A rubber-dam clamp comprising an approximately U-shaped or curved two -part frame hinged together, as described, a trans- Verse screw through the sides of the frame for contracting it, a jaw in one arm of the frame for holding the dam back from the cavity, and a pad in the other arm of the frame, substantially as herein described.

4. In a rubber-dam clamp, a pad secured to the frame of the clamp by a hinged connection, whereby said pad adjusts itself to place as the my hand.

frame is' adjusted, substantially as herein described.

5. Arubber-dam clamp comprising a hinged frame adapted to be contracted and expanded, a jaw in one arm of the frame for holding the dam back, and a pad hinged to the other arm of the frame and opposing th ejaw, whereby said pad may accommodate itself to its place, substantially as herein described.

6. Therubber-dam clamp comprising a twopart hinged frame having a jaw in one end for holding the dam back, a transverse screw for operating said frame, a shank fitted to the other end of the frame, and a pad hinged to the shank,whereby said pad may accommodate itself to position, substantially as herein described.

7. A rubber-dam clamp consisting of the two-part hinged frame having a dovetailed groove in each end, ajaw removably fitted in one of the grooves, a shank removably fitted in the other groove, and a pad hinged to said shank, substantially as herein described.

8. A rubber-dam clamp comprising a curved hinged-frame, jaws in the end of the frame, a screw passing transversely through the sides of the frame for contracting it, and a spring around said screw for expanding it, substan-.

tially as herein described.

9. A rubber-dam clamp consisting of the curved hinged frame having one of its ends provided with an aperture and a groove for the reception of the jaw or other holding device and the other end slotted and grooved for the reception of the opposing jaw'or other holding device, jaws or other holding devices removably seated in said groove, and a transverse screw for operating and adjusting the frame, substantially as herein described.

In witness whereof I havehereunto set my OLIVER CARPENTER. Witnesses:

S. H. NoURsE, H. 0. LEE. 

